Culture
Why Good Books Sometimes Don’t Sell
When I first entered publishing, I believed something that now seems a little naive. I believed that good books would naturally find readers. It felt reasonable at the time. If a book contained valuable ideas, meaningful insights, or a powerful message, surely people would recognize its worth. Surely quality would rise to the surface. After all, isn’t that how it should work? If one book is better written, more helpful, and more thoughtful than another, shouldn’t it sell more copies? The longer I’ve worked in publishing, the more I’ve realized that reality is far more complicated. Some excellent books struggle to find readers. Some books with tremendous value sell only a few hundred copies. Meanwhile, other books seem to spread
